the beast

i spent yesterday with our youth group at king's island. for those of you who have never been, king's island is an amusement park in cincinnati. it has also, for the last 25 years, been home to the 5 min. 15 sec. long "beast". the beast is the greatest wooden roller coaster in the world (officially so, i'm told). any coaster enthusiast's resume is incomplete without taking on this sucker - it's one seriously wicked ride. i find myself enjoying it more at 35 than i did at 18.

i also, for reasons i do not yet understand, strapped myself in with one of our youth and rode "the sky flyer". they attach you by a cable to a body harness that drops you 155 feet, reaching a speed of 60 mph and coming within six feet of the ground before you graceful fly in an arc. it was both terrifying and cool.

one last king's island note: if i were king of the world, i would officially declare brittany spears the anti-christ and outlaw abercrombie and fitch. some would complain at first - but seeing the thong of 13-year old girls is ridiculous and a public menace. taste, morality and common sense must somehow return to the american consciousness.